Change is good
by you-make-me-wander
Summary: The pack gathers at the hospital, waiting for the birth of Stiles and Lydia's first child.


**Tags: Fluff, Slice of Life, Established Relationship, Humor, Friendship**

 **Author's note: This one-shot can be read as a stand-alone, but I wrote it to go along with my fic "Perfection has nothing on you" where Lydia goes into labor, so you might wanna give a read to that one first. It's also my first attempt at Scott/Malia, just to see how I liked writing them.**

 **For one of stydia-fanfiction's prompts.**

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Aside from Melissa, who was already there on a shift, Scott is the first one to get to the Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital. His mom had woken him up at 2 in the morning to let him know that Stiles and Lydia were just checking in, and despite his mother and his best friends' insistence for him not to, Scott headed down to the hospital immediately, leaving a note on his bedside table for his girlfriend to know of his whereabouts.

Upon his arrival to the medical facility, he found the couple by the reception desk where Stiles had just finished filling out all the necessary paperwork and was getting ready to follow Lydia to their assigned bedroom. Quickly hugging his best friend, his _brother_ , Scott patted Stiles' shoulder with a goofy, although still somewhat sleepy grin on his face before leaning down to kiss Lydia's cheek.

"You really didn't need to get here so soon," Lydia states matter-of-factly, adjusting in the wheelchair just before another contraction hits her. Stiles is quick to hold her hand and help with her breathing until it stops.

Scott makes a face. "Does that hurt?"

Lydia looks at her Alpha pointedly, raising an eyebrow before giving in to a soft smile. Leave it to Scott McCall to be so blissfully oblivious sometimes. "Just a little," she answers. "Like menstrual cramps, for now."

That doesn't really clarify to Scott the extent of the pain, but Lydia seems relatively okay to him for the time being. "Are you ready?" He asks his friends, his pack, his _family_ , a tingle of excitement in his eyes.

Stiles stands behind Lydia, ready to push the wheelchair, one of his hands resting where her neck and shoulder meet as his thumb caresses her skin in circles comfortingly. "As ready as we'll ever be, I guess."

"Scott?" The werewolf turns around at his mother's voice, pecking her on the cheek when she approaches. "Didn't I tell you to stay home?"

How was he supposed to go back to sleep after knowing that his niece or nephew will be born sometime soon? "Yeah. And I told you I'd come anyway."

"This could take a while, you know?"

He shrugs nonchalantly, patting Stiles' shoulder again. "I wouldn't miss this for anything."

"There's nothing we can say to make you head back home now, is there, buddy?"

Scott looks at Stiles for a moment, admiring the way his best friend seems to be handling it well so far even though Scott can tell that he's a little jittery, if his fingers tapping on the handle of the wheelchair is any indication. Stiles' eyes though, are a mix of enthusiasm and nervous anticipation, and his smile is as genuine as Scott as ever seen it. He wonders idly if the birth of his child will make Stiles look any happier.

Lydia is much the same. Even though she looks slightly uncomfortable, she appears to be ever grateful for finally being here. Almost 39-weeks pregnant, it's been a long wait to finally have her baby in her arms, not to mention a somewhat troubled journey. Regardless, Lydia glows as she smiles at her friends, placing her right hand on top of the one Stiles has on her shoulder and resting her left on her belly.

His best friends are in love and have been for years, and their first baby is about to be born.

Scott wouldn't want to be anywhere else. "Nope," Scott replies joyfully.

"Then lets go, kids," Melissa beams, beckoning them to follow her. She starts leading them down the hall and they trail behind her. "We've got a baby to deliver."

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Malia is the first one to join Scott at the hospital, where he's been on and off ever since he got there during the night. Liam meets them next, and of the three of them the beta is probably the one who's most enthusiastic about the arrival of the little one, constantly getting up to check on Stiles and Lydia, going back and forth, back and forth.

One by one, all the members of the pack and the parents take control of the small – now packed – waiting room down the hallway from where Lydia's bedroom is, patiently expecting the moment when someone will come into the room to tell them that their pack has grown. So far however, it's been sixteen hours of worry and concern for their friends, of anxiety for the unknown future that the first child born into the pack brings.

And coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

"I can't believe we're here," Scott murmurs with a growing smile on his lips, looking down at the sonogram in his hands as if it's the first time he's seeing it.

Despite having taken turns in resting - in case the labor lasted for several hours, as it is -, they finally bundled all together again in the claustrophobic room. Some sit as relaxed as it's physically possible in the moderately comfortable chairs (like the Sheriff, Natalie, Scott himself and Malia); the others are either sitting on the ground (most of the younger generation) or milling around (the remaining youngsters plus Derek and Braeden, who flew in for the occasion).

The magazines available must have been read about five times by now, and the floor's vending machine has become unappealing long ago. So when Scott breaks the hushed, bored chatters around the room, the others gladly turn to him and watch him intently, glad for the distraction.

Malia's voice breaks his daze after a moment, herself peering at the picture of the small bean over his shoulder. "What do you mean?"

Scott smiles at the photograph fondly, reminiscing. "Stiles and Lydia," he murmurs, and everyone listens attentively. "Eight-year-old me would have never guessed that eight-year-old Stiles would actually marry the little strawberry blonde girl in our class, let alone that she'd be having his baby one day."

The Sheriff grins at that. "I still remember the day he first got home talking about her. He was so… _Alive_. It was before Claudia started getting sick and he would babble on about Lydia as if she'd been the best parts of his day, every day," Noah explains. "At first, we couldn't even shut him up about it, but with time Stiles grew to overcome it."

"Yeah. I don't even think I ever expected them to be friends in the first place," Scott admits bashfully. "But I couldn't be happier that they found each other in the end." Even with everything they'd been through.

There's a pause, and then "Remember when they told us about the baby?" Malia asks cheerfully. Amends long worked out after Stiles and Lydia first started dating, she's good friends with both now, and is as excited as the others about the baby.

Everyone grins at the memory. Lydia had wanted to keep things quiet for a while until she was a few more weeks into the pregnancy, just to be sure, whereas Stiles wanted to tell the world about it. When they finally agreed to tell their friends and family, things didn't go exactly as planned since Stiles was adamant about making a big deal of the reveal, whereas Lydia didn't mind if it was something more casual. Noticing her husband's enthusiasm however, Lydia couldn't resist but to indulge him. _It's our first_ is how he justified his crazy ideas to disclose the big news, only in the end neither of them played out as Stiles ended up blurting it out to every friend and family member, too thrilled to keep his mouth shut. Entranced by the pure joy in his eyes, Lydia hadn't had the heart to stop him.

Liam joins in. "Remember all the embarrassments we went through for them?"

Everyone genuinely laughs then, recalling how the pack's dynamics had changed when they found out that the first baby would be born into the McCall clan. Thanks to Derek and Deaton, who shared their knowledge and experience on the matter, it wasn't so surprising how bonding and protective everyone suddenly was of Stiles and Lydia. Still, it didn't make for less ridiculous moments sometimes.

"I still can't believe we went to the grocery store with them," Mason chuckles. "Anywhere, really." And by that he means that _all_ members of the pack, especially in the very beginning of the pregnancy, became so protective of the couple and of their unborn offspring that they barely let Stiles and Lydia go to their mail box without an escort, let alone out into crowded areas. Beacon Hills hadn't seen groups of 10 to 15 people surrounding a couple while grocery shopping ever since the Hales, all those years ago.

Pack dynamics, as Derek and Deaton had explained, were hard to understand. Mostly, not only each member of the pack innately accepted the baby as one of their own as soon as they learned of its existence, but also understood that the baby had no defense mechanisms from a dangerous, supernatural outside world other than the protection of its mother and father before the pack's, and so they were all bound to protect the little one as naturally as if it was their own.

"I can't believe we drove them mad to the point of having them not talking to us for a while," Hayden remembers. It hadn't been exactly easy for Stiles and Lydia to suddenly just accept that they had at least one babysitter around to make sure that both them and the baby were safe, 24/7, day after day after goddamn day.

"Yeah, but that might have been because Liam walked in on them hav-"

Brett is suddenly interrupted by Liam's low growl, to everyone's amusement. Liam's cheeks redden at the comment, and he forces himself not to look at Stiles' father or at Lydia's mother.

Natalie, for her turn, tries to divert the conversation from that particular subject. "Well I, for one, just really want to find out if it's a boy or a girl. I can't believe they haven't told us."

Truth is, Stiles and Lydia decided that they didn't want to know. Melissa, having been present when Lydia had her first ultrasound, had been the one entrusted with the information and hasn't shared it with a soul. She intends on only saying it when she's holding the baby in her arms and announcing it to Stiles and Lydia themselves, as per their request.

The responsibility could have fallen on Natalie; however, Lydia's mother hadn't been able to make it to the appointment. The banshee sometimes gets lost in thought about how Melissa can be more of a parental figure than her own mother, and she isn't surprised in the slightest when that revelation doesn't astound her. Melissa even _asked_ for a copy of the sonogram - that the woman has proudly kept on the door of her fridge for months - whereas Lydia ended up having to give one to her mother just to make herself feel better.

All of them are itching to find out what the sex of the baby is, what the baby will look like and who they're going to take after in terms of personality. It's all new to them, since most of the pack members don't have siblings and haven't, in general, dealt with kids all that much. Already knowing that the little one is going to be incredibly spoiled, none of them can take the wait anymore.

"I think it'll be a girl," says Malia, smiling at Liam when the younger boy nods in agreement. Most of the girls agree, only Braeden telling them that she's betting it's a boy.

The Sheriff beams. "I can complain about Stiles all I want, but I'd give anything for another little boy in the family," he confesses. To make up for all the mistakes he's made with his son, to right his wrongs and be there in all the ways he wasn't while Stiles was growing up until Claudia passed away, and even sometime after. While the idea of a little girl doesn't displease him at all, the old man is just not sure of how much of his late wife he'd see in her, and the uncertainty of it makes the older man a little apprehensive about it.

"Are you betting on my kid again?"

Stiles shows up in the entrance of the waiting room as tired as the others have ever seen him, and yet not raising that much concern amongst his pack. All the other times when he's looked as tired, it had been for far more dangerous, supernatural shenanigans. Scott thinks with this, Stiles can deal with.

Everyone's eyes are on him, expectant, but his lack of energy must mean that Lydia hasn't delivered yet. "How are things?" Scott asks, getting up to offer his seat to Stiles, who refuses.

"It's okay, I have to go back." He's massaging his hands, Scott notices, holding his breath every now and then as he flexes his fingers. "We're at 8 centimeters, so it shouldn't be so long now."

"Can we see her?" Natalia asks before Malia can.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Stiles murmurs sheepishly. "She's starting to swear."

And really, after Lydia had to politely tell everyone to _leave the bedroom this instant_ when stronger and stronger contractions started hitting her and none of them could prove useful for any purpose other than to be staring at her as she paced around the room trying to control her breathing, maybe it was best to just wait it out.

"What happened to your hands?" Scott asks, curious.

Stiles continues slowly massaging them. "Lydia. I told her to hold on to me whenever she had a contraction, to squeeze as hard as she needed to and well, that's just what she's doing."

Scott shakes his head in disbelief at his best friend. "Then at least let me take your pain away, since Lydia won't let me help her."

Lydia, after months of careful research with Stiles and clarifying all their doubts with medical professionals, had decided that she wanted a natural, unmedicated birth unless there were complications. She'd spent, after all, one too many times in surgeries and under the influence of medication to numb her pain up until this point in her life, and she wouldn't want her child to be born in a way that Lydia has learned to despise. Besides, throughout history women had given birth for thousands of years to perfectly healthy children, a lot of times with no complications whatsoever, and without having any aid before Lydia's turn came. Lydia is sure that she can handle it too.

Supportive of his wife's choice, Stiles denies the help. "Thanks, Scott, but if Lydia is going through this without having her pain taken away, then so will I."

"I still don't get the connection," Malia mutters, having discussed this with Lydia in previous occasions, and to her it still doesn't make all that much sense why they should both be suffering.

Stiles yawns despite himself, the adrenaline weighing on him. "I got her pregnant, so this whole situation is kind of my fault," Stiles jokes lightly. "It's the least I can do, it's fine."

"If you're sure…"

"I'm sure, Scotty. I uh-" He pauses mid-thought, Lydia's sudden scream reminding him that he has somewhere else to be even if Melissa hasn't left her side all day either. "I gotta go. I just wanted to let you guys know that we're almost there," he tells them, a huge grin on his face and his eyes becoming more alert again.

"Have you eaten?" Liam questions in concern.

Never in a million years would have Stiles guessed that the beta and himself would become so close. Stiles rejects his friends' help once more; he doesn't think he can eat at all until this is over. "No, but it's okay. It's fine, everything's fine."

Liam eyes him suspiciously, knowing damn well that Stiles has been high on nothing but coffee all day but letting it slide, the hope that the baby's birth is impending being enough to make him think that Stiles will eat sooner rather than later. "She's not going to bring the building down, is she?"

Stiles laughs, thankful for the brief distraction. Everyone had noticed how Lydia's groans had turned into screams over the past hour whenever she had a contraction, some of them high pitched enough to make the wolves cover their ears at the banshee's wails. "I hope not. We couldn't pay for the remodel, all of our money's is for the baby's college fund."

With a goofy grin, Stiles is gone again, and the others are left to wonder about the future. During the next 4 hours, they engage in pleasant conversations about all the things that will change in their plans when the baby is born. They talk about how they believe it'll transform, yet again, the dynamics within the pack. They wonder about what each of them wants to teach the little one, about who'll spoil the kid the most and who's gonna be the fun uncle, the crazy uncle, the wise uncle and the trusting uncle.

"Things are changing," Scott murmurs lowly in between topics, only for the ones that are closest to him to hear. He stares dreamily at the sonogram still in his hand before putting it away in his wallet, where it has been ever since Stiles and Lydia gave it to him.

"They sure are," Noah replies with a grin. The Sheriff is someone who's been as much of a parent to Scott as Melissa has to both Stiles and Lydia, and Scott doesn't hesitate in returning with a warm grin, one that falters when the man voices the next words with a look that, Scott knows, is directed specifically at himself. His cheeks redden right along too. "I think it's time we finally have more kids around, since you're all grown up."

Scott feels his mouth go dry, and he only really glances at Malia because he can hear her heart skip a beat; otherwise he would have probably avoided eye contact since kids haven't been on the table for them just yet. But there's a soft smile on her lips now, and her eyes glint with something that Scott can't quite put his finger on. It gives him hope. Holding her gaze for a moment, her hand slips into his and Scott entwines their fingers together.

He's sure she blushes before he turns back to the Sheriff. "Maybe."

The rest of those remaining four hours pass them by in a blur.

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20 hours into a labor that proves nothing but painful and lagging, yet not unexpectedly at that - because really, when has life ever been easy on them? -, Stiles comes rushing into the waiting room, half breathless, half in a daze, cheeks reddened and eyes welling with emotion to announce to his friends and family that he's the proud father of the most perfect little girl.

He barely even hears their congratulations, ecstatic as he is, grinning like a mad man and repeating _She's so tiny, dad_ and _She's so beautiful, Scotty_ over and over. His energy is contagious, and so by the time that everyone joins Stiles and the baby in the postpartum room, yet another two hours later, all of them are entranced by the small bundle of limbs in Stiles' arms.

His father is standing behind him, the perfect picture of a proud grandparent as he pats Stiles on the shoulder lightly and softly speaks to the little girl words that Stiles pays no mind to. Because then Melissa appears on the doorway, bringing Lydia in with the help of another nurse and the love of his life is there. The _mother of his child_ is there and Stiles thinks he's never loved Lydia more than in that moment.

Carefully sitting on the bed beside her and passing her the baby while their friends extend their congratulations to Lydia, Stiles kisses Lydia's forehead reverently. He's never been so grateful for anything in his life.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" Melissa asks before Stiles can.

"Just really tired," Lydia murmurs in response, resting her head on Stiles' chest and looking down at her daughter. _Their_ daughter.

Stiles wraps an arm around Lydia's shoulders. "You need to rest."

"And so do you," Scott tells him. "You all do. Why don't we get going and we'll see you guys tomorrow?"

It's close to midnight again, and so everyone agrees quickly. Just as they're all getting ready to leave, Scott asks the question they've all been dying to ask. "So, does my goddaughter have a name already? Have you settled on one yet?"

Lydia shares a knowing look with Stiles, smiles etched on their lips. "I think we have, yes."

"Ellie," Stiles says. "Her name is Ellie. Eleanor Claudia Stilinski."

The alpha makes his way to Lydia, kissing her cheek and the baby's before patting Stiles on the back. The resemblance of the baby's nickname to the one of the late huntress doesn't escape him. He smiles bright and brushes his thumb on the baby's cheek fondly. "Ellie," he whispers, testing it out. "Hi, Ellie. It's Uncle Scott."

In the corner of the room, a very emotional Sheriff Stilinski and Chris Argent tear up, watching the scene.

Everything is emotional and heartwarming and feels genuinely like home, like this is one of those moments they've been looking for their whole lives and now it's here. They're safe and they're together, and life is moving on as it should. They only wish it hadn't taken so many innocent souls along the way. When Stiles and Lydia kiss, Scott thinks he's never seen anything so pure.

Malia squeezes his hand in reassurance and Scott pecks her lips, her eyes still holding the promise of something _more_ and he thinks it's the perfect ending to a perfect day.

He can't wait to get back home.

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"Liam, what on earth are you doing?!"

The beta stills immediately, the two-year-old in front of him starting giggling at her father's mocking, amusing tone. "Nothing," Liam squeals, quickly retrieving the toy Lacrosse stick from the little redhead's hands and placing it on one of the shelves so that the girl can't reach it.

"Didn't we say that she's an absolute terror with anything that can hurt?" Lydia defends her husband, looking at Liam pointedly.

"She's gonna be a terrific Lacrosse player, I know it! Where she got those genes, I have no clue," Liam stands his ground, grinning at Stiles, "but I'm gonna teach her everything I know and she'll be the best Lacrosse player the world has ever seen," he exclaims confidently, a bit crazily even.

It still amuses Stiles and Lydia just how much all the members of the pack not only care for their little girl, but immediately accepted her as one of their own. She's gonna have the childhood that most of them didn't get to have, Stiles and Lydia are sure of it, but how they'll handle the girl being so spoiled they haven't the faintest idea. "If she hits someone with that stick, Liam, I swear to god I'm making you babysit for a month," Stiles teases, holding Lydia's hand and pulling her away as they enter Derek's loft to meet the others.

"Like I didn't do just that!" Liam yells in their direction but the pair ignores him. They're too blissed at the moment _exactly_ because of it. "Come on, Ells," the werewolf tells the little girl, pulling her up over his head and sitting her on his shoulders, holding her securely as he starts wandering around. "Your mommy and daddy are no fun," he mutters under his breath much to the girl's amusement. "You wanna go check what your Nanas are baking in the kitchen, see if we can help?" He asks her, looking up to find wild red hair cascading down her chubby face, a dozen of freckles already splattered across the girl's cheeks and nose despite the young age, and light brown eyes staring back at him in earnest. She seems to have inherited features that will, for sure, give trouble to the pack when she gets older.

Liam can already foresee wolves scaring off possible boyfriends down the streets of good, old Beacon Hills.

Ellie nods eagerly, distracting him from his thoughts and Liam laughs at the imagery of what he was just thinking, and with that they're off to the kitchen. Stiles and Lydia watch them go in delight, sitting on one of the couches far too close to properly be deemed appropriate as if they're a couple in a new relationship still in the honeymoon phase, being left to wonder if life can get any better than this.

"Who'd guess he'd be so good with kids, uh?" Stiles murmurs softly, nodding in Liam's direction and remembering the kid that was a ticking time bomb when they met them; now such a mature, dependable young man that has Stiles having nothing less than respect for him. "I guess things really do change."

Lydia nods in agreement, kissing the corner of his mouth. "Yeah," she decides. Where they'd always been so reluctant in changing so many things in their lives while growing up in a supernatural word, there's really nothing to fear anymore so long as they're together. "Change is good."

On the upstairs bathroom, after months of false hope but now looking at four pregnancy tests that practically scream POSITIVE, Malia would agree with Lydia in a minute.

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 **Author's note: Feedback, please.**


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